4 ID’d in incident where officer was hurt
Four people were arrested in connection with an incident that involved the injuring of a police officer.
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. » State police have identified four people arrested in connection with an incident that involved the injuring of a police officer who was dragged by a car.
Arrested by the state police were Brooklyn residents Dontayvus Thomas, 26, Matthew King, 23, and Kayla Chevalier, 22, police said. Also arrested was New York City resident Robert Wannaker, 24.
Thomas and King were each charged with three counts of assault, criminal possession of a controlled substance, reckless endangerment, all felonies, and obstructing governmental administration, and resisting arrest, misdemeanors, police said.
Thomas was additionally charged with fleeing from a police officer in a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation, police said.
Wannaker was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and obstructing governmental administration, a misdemeanor, police said.
Chevalier was charged with hindering prosecution, a felony, resisting arrest and obstructing government administration, both misdemeanors, police said.
On Friday, New Paltz police said several individuals were arrested in the dragging incident, which started about 2 a.m. Thursday when New Paltz police stopped a vehicle on North Putt Corners Road. Authorities said the vehicle was stopped after the police noticed the rear passengers of the vehicle matched the descriptions of two individuals who allegedly fled from state police during a traffic stop on the Thruway earlier in the evening.
According to authorities, as police removed the driver from the car, one of the rear passengers jumped into the driver’s seat. And while one officer tried to stop that person from putting the car in gear, the other passenger began struggling with the other officer.
The person in the driver’s seat began to drive the vehicle away, dragging one of the officers along North Putt Corners Road, police said. They said that in an attempt to stop the fleeing vehicle, another New Paltz officer fired a single shot at a tire.
The officer who was being dragged was able to free himself from the car, which crashed a short distance away, police said. They said everyone in the vehicle then fled into a wooded area, and they were arrested a few hours later in a taxi on Ohioville
Road.
The officer who was dragged by the vehicle suffered only minor injuries and was treated by the New Paltz Rescue Squad. The officer who fired his gun was evaluated at an area hospital and released.
New Paltz police did not provide the names of those arrested in the incident or the charges against them. On Saturday, New Paltz Police Chief Joseph Snyder said the arrests were related to the case.